Street-car fender



(No Model.)

G. E. WINGATE.

STREET GAR FENDER.

Patented Apr. 28, 1896 ANUREW B.GRAHAM: PHUTUMTHO WAsHIN GION 0.6,

NITED STATES ATENT OFFI E STREET-CAR FENDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 559,047, dated April28, 1896.

Application filed February 18, 1896. Serial No- 5'79,722. (No model.)

To aZl whom it may concern: I

Be it known that 1, CHARLES E. WINGATE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Law rence, in the county of Essex and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inStreet-Car Fenders, and I do declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in that class of car-fenders whichare normally held above the track, so as not to strike obstructions onthe track or retard the progress of the car, and which are designed andadapted to be depressed by the car-driver when a person is upon thetrack, so as to pick up such person and prevent him or her from gettingbeneath the wheels of the car; and it has for its general object toprovide such a fender of an exceedingly cheap, simple, and efficientconstruction, and one which may be readily connected with cars such asat present in use without altering the construction of the same, andwithout the employment of skilled labor.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be fully understoodfrom the following description and claims, when taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings, in which- 4 Figure 1 is a View, partlyin elevation and partly in section, of a portion of a car-body equippedwith my improved fender. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the fender with partsbroken away, and Fig. 3 is a detail view of one of the springs and thechain connected thereto.

Referring by letter to the said drawings, A indicates a car-body, whichhas a platform a and a dashboard b, and a cross-beam c in rear of theplatform.

13 indicates eyebolts, which are secured to the beam 0 adjacent to thesides of the carbody, and 0 indicates my improved fender, which, ifdesired, may have its rear portion reduced in width to afli'ord spacefor the trackscrapers (not illustrated) with which some cars areequipped. This fender 0 comprises the side bars 01, which are preferablyformed of 'heavy wire or wrought-iron and are provided at their rearends with inwardly directed branches c, and are coiled adjacent to theirforward ends, as indicated by f, to form j ournal-bearings, the forwardcross -bar 1, which is formed integral with the side bars d, thecross-bars h, which are connected at their ends to the side bars 01, thelongitudinal bars 7;, which-are connected to the several cross- ,bars72, the roller j, which is mounted on a shaft arranged in the bearings fof the side the track, as shown in Fig. 1, by the coiled springs D.These springs D are connected at their upper ends with the platform a ofthe car-body, as illustrated, and their lower ends are connected withthe fender O by chains G, as illustrated. The lowermost links of thesaid chains G are permanently connected to the fender O, as shown, andany one of the other links is detachably connected with the lower endsof the springs C, so as to enable the said springs to normally hold thefender above the track, and in virtue of the chain connection it will beobserved that the fender may be normally held at various distances abovethe track.

E indicates the pedal-bar, through the medium of which the car-driver ormotorman is enabled to press and hold the forward end of the fender andthe roller j down upon the car-track. This bar E extends down through anopening Z in the car-platform, at or adjacent to the middle of the same,so as to permit the driver to conveniently place his foot upon it andpress it down, and at its lower end it merges into the lateral anddownwardlyextending arms H, which are connected at their lower ends withthe fender C, as shown. This construction, as will be readilyappreciated, permits of the usual drawbar (not illustrated) being placedbeneath the platform and between said platform and the fender O in theordinary manner.

As will be readily observed, the fender is normally held above the trackso as not to engage stones or other obstructions 011 the same or retardthe progress of the car, and is therefore not liable to be worn outafter short use. When, however, a person is upon the track, the drivermay quickly and easily depress the forward end of the fender and holdthe same down so that the roller j will travel upon the track. Then thisis done, the for ward end of the plate 70 will take beneath the body ofthe person upon the track, and the fender will hold the body until thecar is stopped and will effectually prevent it from getting beneath thewheels of the car.

It will be observed from the foregoing that, while very strong anddurable, my improved fender is very cheap and simple, and it will alsobe observed that the fender may be quickly and easily applied to carssuch as at present in use without altering the construction of the sameand without the employment of skilled labor. It will also be observedthat my improved fender may be very quickly and easily brought intoaction, and that it will serve effectually to prevent a person on thetrack from getting beneath the wheels of the car.

Having described my invention, what I claim is 1. The combination of acar having a'platform and also having the transverse beam 0, and theeyebolts connected to said beam, the fender comprising the side barshaving inwardly-directed branches at their rear ends journaled in theeyebolts on the car and coiled adjacent to their forward ends to formjournal-bearings, the forward cross-bar g, connected to the side bars,the cross-bars connected to the side bars at intervals in the lengththereof, the transverse roller having its shaft arranged in the journal-bearin gs formed by the side bars, and the plate covering saidroller and connected to the side bars and to the forward cross-bar g,and the crossbar in rear of the bar g, the coiled spring connected atone end with the fender and at its opposite end to the platform of thecar and the pedal-bar arranged in advance of the spring and looselyconnected with the fender and extending up through the platform,substantially as specified.

2. The combination of a car having aplatform, a fender connected in ahinged manner with the car and arranged beneath the platform, coiledsprings connected to the under side of the platform, chains, comprisinga plurality of links, connected to the fender and having one of theirlinks detaehably eonnected to the lower ends of the coiled springs, anda pedal-bar connected with the fender, substantially as and for thepurpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES E. \VINGATE. lVitnesses J ULIUs J. MCCORMACK, JOHN T. CROSBY,

